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If you don't have credit or have bad credit, you do not get to lease equipment, especially things like a Hopper. It must be purchased. On the other side of the coin, if you aren't up to your eyeballs in debt, you can afford to purchase such things.

If you don't have credit or have bad credit, you do not get to lease equipment, especially things like a Hopper. It must be purchased. On the other side of the coin, if you aren't up to your eyeballs in debt, you can afford to purchase such things.

I understand where poor or no credit could lead to not being able to lease receivers. But a $200 activation fee? Does that include an install of the owned equipment or is it more along the lines of a non-refundable security deposit against the last month of service or a "because we can" fee?

I had a Dish tech come out to replace an old SD system with an HD Hopper and 2 Joeys.
He spent 6.5 trying to get it to work. He ended up replacing the Hopper, both joeys ( 3 times ), wiring, the hick, the splitter and still could only get the Hopper and one Joey to work. 4 hours in, another guy came with more hoppers and joeys. Eventually, it looked like it worked, but a hour later one Joey stopped worked and couldn't connect to the Hopper.

A couple of days later a Dish tech came out. Replaced cable end points, replaced cables and finally said that the issue looks to be with the cable coming up from the basement to the room. So I took a tv down to the basement and we connected directly to the splitter. Same issue. Joey is stuck on Discovering....

Finally got fed up and said not to worry about it and that we have it working in the important rooms. So now, we are down to one Hopper and one Joey.

Better than nothing. Neither the techs nor the people on the phone that they called had any idea.

This is fairly new tech and I'm sure they'll get the kinks out in the months to come.

Dish folks installed (1) Hopper & (2) Joey's about a week ago. Took about four hours to get the system up and running (new outside hardware & software waiting game). The installer kept busy and seemed knowledgeable, however, he had no idea PIP was available on the Hopper.

The router/wall plug SlingLink Turbo W1 seemed to be a joke. The installer couldn't seem to get some concealed wall plugs to work with the Hopper/Joey, ended up in the middle of a wall run to a Joey which looked like s**t.

Also, I have an LCD, LED, & Sammy HL-S6187W 1080P DLP set. The LCD & LED sets look fantastiic set on "Dish's format TV 1080I setting", however the
HL-S6187W set and the Joey do not like each other at all on 1080I. Extreme pixelation with the guide & to a lesser extent when a channel is locked in. The 720P menu setting works with much less pixlelation problems & looks good.

I's there a known problem with DLP sets and Joey's? We tried a different HDMI slot, a 2nd Joey, & different HDMI cable, no joy. The installer left and said give it a month after coming to grips that it was not my 6187W TV inputs causing
the problem.

To end, the Joey paperwork & box show up to 1080P, however, the "format TV" menu only shows up to 1080I. Just an observation.

Installer showed up about 12:30 to install a 1 hopper/ 3 joey system. Used all existing wiring and seemed to know what he was talking about even tho it was only his third hopper install. Most of the install time was spent waiting for software to download. Tech only had to make one call to ask if he could install the second Joey as soon as the first Joey paired. He chose to wait it out. Tech left with everything working at about 3:00PM. Overall a very good experience.

To end, the Joey paperwork & box show up to 1080P, however, the "format TV" menu only shows up to 1080I. Just an observation.

All of DISH's live channels are in 1080i or 720p ... for the content that DISH provides in 1080p (a few Video on Demand movies each month) the receiver will switch to 1080p output and test to see if your set will accept it. The same for 3D televisions. Choose 3D content and the receiver tests then falls back to 2D if 3D is not detected.

I am still getting used to the Hopper. In some ways I regret moving from Direct TV DVR. Too soon to tell.

I had my Hopper and 1 Joey installed on April 26 in the San Jose CA area. I took about 2 hours to check my existing DirectTV wiring, which they used unchanged, and remove the direct TV dish and install the new dish on my roof. I have no problems at all. Everything works fine.

I am still getting used to the Hopper software and the folders. The one thing I miss is the Direct TV ratings using the Rotten Tomatoes system as well as there existing star ratings.

If I went into a store and saw the hopper interface I am not sure that I would have changed from Direct tv, since it is so different.

Also if you call direct tv cancellation line, NOT the main line, they will offer you their new 1TB 34? DVR for free as well as reduced monthly price, if you are cancelling

Does anyone have a good way to organize the Hopper folders? If you put a show in a folder can you delete it from the default folder?

I am also not sure how useful the prime time anytime feature is for me. I am assuming that prime time anytime shows are stored on the Dish Partition and not the users one?

When I turn my TV off it shuts off the hopper. When I turn the TV on the hopper comes back on. When the hopper is off none of the joeys work either. I disconnected the HDMI cable from the hopper and now it works fine but of course I can't watch the TV.

I am still getting used to the Hopper. In some ways I regret moving from Direct TV DVR. Too soon to tell.

I had my Hopper and 1 Joey installed on April 26 in the San Jose CA area. I took about 2 hours to check my existing DirectTV wiring, which they used unchanged, and remove the direct TV dish and install the new dish on my roof. I have no problems at all. Everything works fine.

I am still getting used to the Hopper software and the folders. The one thing I miss is the Direct TV ratings using the Rotten Tomatoes system as well as there existing star ratings.

If I went into a store and saw the hopper interface I am not sure that I would have changed from Direct tv, since it is so different.

Also if you call direct tv cancellation line, NOT the main line, they will offer you their new 1TB 34? DVR for free as well as reduced monthly price, if you are cancelling

Does anyone have a good way to organize the Hopper folders? If you put a show in a folder can you delete it from the default folder?

I am also not sure how useful the prime time anytime feature is for me. I am assuming that prime time anytime shows are stored on the Dish Partition and not the users one?

The Hopper/Joey isn't limited to RF remote control, is it? I haven't had a DISH system in many years, and my in-laws are still stuck with 1998 receivers (that prevent me from getting them a Harmony remote); I'm hoping DISH has wised up on this.

When I turn my TV off it shuts off the hopper. When I turn the TV on the hopper comes back on. When the hopper is off none of the joeys work either. I disconnected the HDMI cable from the hopper and now it works fine but of course I can't watch the TV.

You've got control-over-HDMI activated on either your TV, the Hopper, or both.

EDIT: My money's on the TV.

Edited by gbeenie, 03 May 2012 - 01:09 PM.Thought of another thing to add

The Hopper/Joey isn't limited to RF remote control, is it? I haven't had a DISH system in many years, and my in-laws are still stuck with 1998 receivers (that prevent me from getting them a Harmony remote); I'm hoping DISH has wised up on this.

Had 1 Hopper and 1 Joey installed yesterday and a 625 and 722K removed. Everything took under 2 hours and seemed to go rather seamlessly. The only surprise (to me) was that the installer told me Dish pretty much required the Hopper to be connected to the internet. He told me it would receive NO updates unless it was connected. I ended up letting him install some homeplugs to do this and am actually pretty happy with the whole thing.

This seems odd, updates come through the dish (I thought). Hope it's not true since I'm having my install 2 days before I'll have internet (new house). Can't you just plug a cat5 cable from a router into the hopper?

Had 1 Hopper and 1 Joey installed yesterday and a 625 and 722K removed. Everything took under 2 hours and seemed to go rather seamlessly. The only surprise (to me) was that the installer told me Dish pretty much required the Hopper to be connected to the internet. He told me it would receive NO updates unless it was connected. I ended up letting him install some homeplugs to do this and am actually pretty happy with the whole thing.

A) came home to play with it. I had the screen locked up in 5 minutes hearing sound but seeing Hopper screen saver- reset technician plugged in my USB sling from my vip722. tried to use dish app to change a channel like I could before -brokenC) tried to use iPad to play a DVR show on my TV as before. -brokenD) called and added blockbuster and removed HBO. Funny the free show had huge moments where the stream failed and had to buffer. But today we buy a movie for additional 6.99 and flawless play back. My interpretation monthly included part of blockbuster is that it is purposely throttled to allow more important ppv traffic to take priority.E) saw ads showing Pandora, love it. Got the Hopper no Pandora yet they tell me.F) liked the idea of playing my library of music, videos, and pictures via that home media app. Guess what, I tried all four examples. None work and I know the network is not an issue, I setup Cisco amd Juniper network gear for a living.G) was told on the Wednesday night it was a $99 upgrade. Guess what they charged me $300 Thursday morning. Would not honor the promises made the night before.